Gennady Golovkin Is A KO Machine, But His Resume Is Deceiving

Gennady Golovkin is 36-0 with 33 KO and he has stopped 23 straight opponents, but he has yet to prove his greatness against an elite 160-pound foe. Is Daniel Jacobs that elite opponent?

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan in the ring ahead of his fight with Kell Brook of Great Britain for the WBC, IBF & IBO Middleweight titles at The O2 Arena on September 10, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Leigh Dawney/Getty Images)

Probably not, but the regular WBA middleweight champion is a more dangerous opponent than any of the fighters Golovkin has faced up to this point. For weeks it appeared these two were going to face off this month, but per Boxing Scene, there is no agreement in place for the bout yet.

The fight looks to be headed for a purse bid. If an agreement is made, the fighters could face off at Madison Square Garden on March 18 on HBO or HBO Pay-Per-View. Like it or not, this is a fight Golovkin needs.

He has faced only three undefeated opponents in his career. That number isn't terribly lower than other champions with 36 pro fights, but the caliber of undefeated opponents is pretty tame. In 2009, Golovkin defeated Mikhail Makarov who was 10-0 at the time. Makarov retired 12-1 with a non-descript career.

GGG didn't fight another undefeated opponent until earlier this year when he stopped the massively overmatched Dominic Wade in April. The third unblemished opponent he faced was Kell Brook in September. You won't hear me disparaging Brook's career. He's a Grade-A welterweight, but that's the caveat.

Golovkin stopped a fighter who jumped two weight classes to challenge him. It really was a no-win situation for GGG. Brook showed well in the fight as he was able to have more success against Golovkin than any previous opponent.

Aside from undefeated opponents, Golovkin has faced very few esteemed champions. He acquired his titles from the likes of Milton Nunez (interim WBA title), Lajuan Simon (IBO), Marco Antonio Rubio (interim WBC) and David Lemieux (IBF). Of that modest group, Lemieux is the only name that jumps out at you.

That said, no one would mistake Lemieux for a great champion in the middleweight division.

As you scan Golovkin's entire resume you'll notice, it is completely devoid of great opposition. How then can we call him great? His supporters and camp will tell you fighters have been running from him, but I'm not sure I believe that in every instance.

It certainly appears that Canelo Alvarez wanted no parts of Golovkin, but the same thing was implied in regards to Andre Ward. If Ward is afraid of Golovkin, why would he fight someone like Sergey Kovalev? The former light heavyweight champion is a bigger man whose skills have been tested against better competition.